PHILLIPS – The Phillips Food Pantry opened Thursday in the former school on Russell Street. In just three hours, members of 17 households had visited the newly furnished space, said Evelyn Wilbur, town clerk and a member of the Food Pantry Board.

The former pantry at the Phillips Methodist Church, a ministry of Phillips Shared Ministry, closed in July, leaving people from Phillips, Avon and Madrid traveling to the nearest food pantry in Salem, which is sponsored by the United Methodist Economic Ministry.

Now people here can walk, bike or use four-wheelers to reach the site off Main Street, she said.

The former school will soon also house the town office, probably by the end of October, she added. Phillips voters have been putting money aside for the past three years to reclaim the school. There is also room to eventually have town meetings and voting at the school, she said.

After Thursday’s initial opening, the pantry will be open from 8 to 11 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 4, and then from 9 a.m. to noon on the second and fourth Thursdays and 8 to 11 a.m. on the third Saturday of the month.

Although the board has been working to clean and furnish the space, the decision to open this week followed a board meeting Tuesday when members Lynn White and Wilbur of Phillips and Robert Ellis of Avon decided to get started, she said.

Volunteers will man the pantry while former volunteer manager Madeline Haines will continue purchasing food and handling the pantry’s finances, she said.

Along with money and food donations, the pantry receives some government commodity items and can purchase from the Good Shepherd Food-Bank in Auburn.

“Over 140 people are served through the pantry with expectations that more will be needed in these hard times,” she said. The pantry provides three to five days worth of food once a month. In cases of emergencies such as fire and sickness, more food is given. For people not able to come to the pantry, food can be delivered.

For times in between when the pantry is not open and there is a need, people can call Wilbur at 639-4287 or the town office at 639-3561 and she will make arrangements, she said.

While some food items and money were left over from the July closing, the pantry can always use cash and food donations, she said. Donations payable to Phillips Food Pantry can be left at the town office at 22 Main St. or at the Avon Town Office in care of Robert Ellis.